1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a template and cannulated needle for use in the medical arts to identify proper hypodermic insertion sites and technique, specifically as a guide to identify proper insertion sites and technique for knee injections.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently there is no known existing apparatus to guide in the medical injection of a human knee. A physician faced with a patient requiring a medical injection in the knee must know the sites on the leg for hypodermic insertion of the injection apparatus in order to properly inject the knee. A need has therefore developed in the medical community for a device which indicates these proper sites and technique.
General Practice or Emergency Room physicians generally have little, or no, training in the proper technique or a location of insertion of injection apparatus for injection into the knee of a patient. Presently, a needle is the commonly used apparatus for administering medical injections into the human knee. It is often not known where around the perimeter of the patella the needle should be inserted, to what depth, or at what angle. This uncertainty causes attempts to inject at various improper locations which are ineffective and cause extreme discomfort to the patient. Under the present system in medical schools, there is no practical method of teaching physicians in training the proper sites and techniques of insertion of a needle for injection into the knee. In training, medical students frequently learn anatomy from cadavers. Injection of the knee is carried out with the patient sitting in the upright position and the knees bent at 90.degree.. This position is impossible with a cadaver which is very stiff and unyielding. Therefore, proper injection techniques and locations are generally not practiced. In addition, body fluids are drained from cadavers, which renders the experience much different than with a live patient in a clinical setting. The only way to properly learn is on a patient who is awake who would experience the pain and discomfort from the procedure. Generally, therefore, the technique for proper injection into the knee is taught by demonstration by an experienced physician rather than hands-on training by the student. Consequently, trained physicians frequently have little knowledge of the proper sites, the best technique, or proper angles of insertion of a needle for injection into the knee of a patient.